checklist

INSTG0017 Internet Technologies 2009

Evaluation of Websites: Some Questions to Consider.
There are many things to consider when evaluating a website. Here is a list of
potential topics you may wish to cover. It is not an exhaustive list, and in the readings
you should have come across other more specific areas and tools to look at, but this
would be a good approach to start with.

Validation:
Does the site meet the W3C Standards? Does the html/xhtml validate?
Does the CSS Validate?
What version of HTML/XHTML have they used? Would you recommend they
updated to any other version?
How many errors are there?
What are the common errors?
How easy would these errors be to correct?
Where should they start with correcting the errors?
What would your recommendations be to the website, to bring it up to standard?
Why would it be useful for the website to meet W3C standards? Can you explain to
the website owner why they should bother?

Netiquette:
Is there a page last updated?
Are contact details clear?
Is the content free from grammatical errors and typos?
Would you trust the content of the site? Is it clear who owns it and updates it?
Is the purpose of the site clear?

Technical netiquette:
Is the code commented?
Is the CSS commented (if the site uses CSS)?
Have they provided metadata?
Is the metadata different for each page?
Are any links broken?
Are there any pages not found within the website?

Navigation:
Is this clear and consistent?
How can navigation be improved?
Does the site use popups, changing navigation bars, of confusing links to other
internal sites?
Are menu bars simple, obvious, and useful?
Is there breadcrumb navigation supplied, or a site map?

Graphic Design:
Is the design pleasing?
How would you describe the colours and the branding of the site? Is this successful?
Would the colours chosen work for colour blind users?
Has the site used tables or CSS to control layout? What would you recommend
regarding how they could improve the layout of their site, both from a technical and a
visual perspective?

Usability:
What are your first reactions to using the website?
Was the user experience pleasant?
Is there any basic functionality of the website that does not work?
How would you recommend further usability testing to be carried out?
Cross-Browser Testing:
Does the website work in different browsers?
How would you recommend further testing to be carried out on this?

Accessibility:
Does the website meet W3C Guidelines on accessibility?
How do you know? What tools did you use to help your evaluation?
What error messages did the tools report, and how easy would these be to fix?
What would you suggest to the website owners, to improve accessibility of their
website?
Is the site uses CSS, when you turn the CSS off does the site still function? Is the
order of the information presented in the html useful for screen readers?
Other points to consider:
Has any copyright been asserted over the website content?
Does it link to good quality websites?
Are there any other similar websites to other organisations that you could point the
website owners to, to show them what you mean in your recommendations?
Are there any external tools, articles, or reports you can point the website owners to,
to back up your specific findings?

Recommendations:
What would you recommend to the website owners as to how to improve their
website?
What is the most pressing concern that they should address first?
How long do you think it would take them to update their site?
Why is it important that they take your recommendations seriously?